MUSIC REVIEW — YEASAYER

In Uncategorized on 01/28/2010 at 4:36 am

Yeasayer

Odd Blood

(Secretly Canadian)

Yet another group of Brooklyn hipsters, Yeasayer don’t ooze pretension like many of their peers. In fact, several of the songs on their second album, Odd Blood, are more accessible than anything you’ll find in the Dirty Projectors and Grizzly Bear’s combined catalogs. The first single, “Ambling Alp,” even comes pretty close to conventional pop territory. That doesn’t mean Yeasayer have abandoned the tripped-out psych-pop of their 2007 debut; they’ve just learned to corral it more efficiently into songs rather than ideas masquerading as songs. Odd Blood’s best tracks (“Ambling Alp,” “O.N.E.”) borrow Animal Collective’s tribal jams and meld them to peppy ’80s synth-pop. They’re way more ear-friendly — and way less mind-fucking — than you’d expect from a band that proudly wears the “experimental indie-rock” tag. –Michael Gallucci